Home Office Updates

So, I haven't made a substantive post in forever. Let's see, my work trip to Seattle went very well. Had breakfast with the new head of technology, and that went very well. Had meetings with lots of other people, it all went well. Was filmed in a minor role for a Doctor Who fan film, which I assume will turn up completed in a few months. Hung out with my best friend, saw some other friends, all in all a decent trip. It would have been better if Kris could have come along, but there you have it. All signs indicate another Seattle trip in January, and this time we will plan on extending the trip and Kris will come along as well so we can celebrate our birthdays with her family.

Back home, great strides have been made in the home office project. I got my desktop installed just before leaving on my Seattle trip, and I completed all of the trim and such once I got back. I am now fully functional with my eight foot desktop, wall-mounted dual monitors, and new sound system. I still need to neaten up the wires under the desk, but other than that the project is completed. Earlier this week I built the base units for the last set of bookcases, and last night I routed the electrical and got the base units mounted to the wall. There was one power outlet and one cable outlet that needed to be routed down to the base unit, and now that that is taken care of I am ready to crank out the bookcases. We will be cutting all the boards for the boxes on Sunday evening, and each box should only take about 45 minutes to construct. Then, of course, they all need to be pained (easier and cleaner to paint them in the garage and not in place). I figure I should be mounting the boxes into position within a couple of weeks. After that it's just trim work and shelf construction. With any luck, the entire project will be complete within a month. The only things remaining to be done in the office after that is to replace the window blinds and install baseboard trim. It will be nice to finally have the entire project completed.

Ben is doing very well, and is apparently enjoying his summer camp. He goes every weekday from 9 - 3, and it's all summer fun activities like swimming. A few of the teachers there already knew him, and he has several familiar classmates as well. Apparently he bounces out of bed every morning excited to go to camp. It is such a complete difference from this time last summer, it's hard to believe he is the same kid. It's just so great to see him so happy and healthy.

Kris was home all this week, having her first time off from work in ages. Seriously, she's been working seven days a week for a couple of months now, and these past few days has been her first chance to slow down and relax. It was nice to be able to just kind of hang out with her. We had hoped to get out on the West Orange Trail a few times this week, but persistant thunder showers have made outdoor activities pretty much impossible. Ah, well. Today she is back to work at Universal, but now she has switched her status there so that she doesn't automatically get put on the schedule. She'll be able to just look at available shifts and take whatever ones she wants, which will let her work more reasonable hours overall. She is also doing some weekend work for a dentist here in Winter Garden, but that will only be an occasional thing. It's a good gig and keeps her current with skillsets she is not using at her current job, and also gives her some connections. At some point in the not too distant future her current boss is going to retire, and it will be good to be hooked up with some other dentists so she has some options.

So that's it. Time for me to get to work. I'll post photos of the home office project when it is completed.